PENN Entertainment, Inc. (PENN): Marketing Mix Analysis [Dec-2025 Updated]

You're looking at PENN Entertainment, Inc. and wondering if the massive digital gamble is paying off now that the calendar is flipping toward 2026. Honestly, the real action in late 2025 isn't about the big sports promotion spend anymore; it's the disciplined pivot: moving away from that alliance toward making the iCasino profitable, all while keeping that retail engine humming with a $\mathbf{33.8\%}$ Adjusted EBITDAR margin. I've broken down exactly how their Product, Place, Promotion, and Price are being reshaped to hit those profitability targets-you'll want to see the details on the ESPN BET phase-out and the new Hollywood Casino Joliet launch.

PENN Entertainment, Inc. (PENN) - Marketing Mix: Product

The product element for PENN Entertainment, Inc. (PENN) is a diversified portfolio spanning physical regional casino operations and a suite of digital gaming and betting platforms, all designed to feed into an omnichannel ecosystem.

Regional Casino Gaming under Brands like Hollywood Casino and Ameristar

PENN Entertainment's core product offering resides in its physical, regional casino properties operating under established brands such as Hollywood Casino and Ameristar. These properties are grouped into four reportable segments: Northeast, South, West, and Midwest. The overall performance of this retail operation in the third quarter ended September 30, 2025, was robust, providing a stable base for the digital pivot.

The retail property segment generated revenues of $1.4 billion for the third quarter of 2025. Segment Adjusted EBITDAR for this segment was $465.8 million, yielding Segment Adjusted EBITDAR margins of 32.8% for the same period. Demand across gaming and non-gaming amenities was reported as stable, particularly at properties not facing new supply competition.

Key product developments in the physical space included the opening of the new location at Hollywood Casino Joliet on August 11, 2025. Furthermore, the second hotel tower at M Resort Spa Casino was scheduled to open on December 1, 2025.

The retail portfolio includes numerous properties, with some of the brands falling under the following segment groupings:

Online iCasino Platforms: Hollywood iCasino and theScore Bet Casino

PENN Entertainment's North America iCasino business achieved its highest quarterly gaming revenue to date in the third quarter of 2025, marking an improvement of nearly 40 per cent year-over-year. The company's primary iCasino product is the Hollywood Casino brand, which is available as a standalone app in certain states, and also integrated within the OSB platform.

The market share for the standalone Hollywood Casino iCasino product grew from 2.5% in September 2024 to 3.9% in September 2025. The iCasino growth was significantly driven by cross-sell from OSB, which accounted for a record 62 per cent of new iCasino customers in Q3 2025.

The theScore Bet Casino product is accessible within the theScore Bet sportsbook app in Michigan, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia, in addition to being available as a standalone app in those states.

Online Sports Betting (OSB) via ESPN BET, which is being phased out in late 2025

The OSB product, branded as ESPN BET, was subject to an early termination of the marketing exclusivity agreement with ESPN, effective December 1, 2025. The platform captured approximately 3% of the U.S. sports betting market. The Interactive segment, which includes OSB, reported revenues of $297.7 million in Q3 2025, inclusive of a tax gross-up of $139.5 million, while posting an Adjusted EBITDA loss of $76.6 million.

PENN Entertainment is rebranding its U.S. OSB offering to theScore Bet, with a target date of December 1, 2025, subject to regulatory approvals. The company will retain the database of 2.9 million digital users acquired during the ESPN relationship.

• OSB Marketing Exclusivity with ESPN ended: December 1, 2025.
• Final cash payment to ESPN in Q4 2025: $38.1 million, plus $5 million in additional marketing support through December 31, 2025.
• ESPN retained vested warrants for 7,957,210 shares at a weighted strike price of $28.95.

Omnichannel Experience Linking Retail Play with Digital Platforms

The product strategy emphasizes an omnichannel experience, where digital engagement drives traffic and revenue to physical locations. This integration is a core component of PENN Entertainment's strategy, leveraging the digital user base to enhance retail performance.

Data from the second quarter of 2025 showed tangible results from this integration:

• Online-to-retail player count grew 8% year-over-year.
• Online-to-retail theoretical revenue grew 28% year-over-year.

The new Hollywood Casino Joliet property saw 15%+ database growth from new customers, with over 50% of that growth coming from previously inactive customers, demonstrating the digital activation efficiency.

Non-Gaming Amenities Including Hotels, Dining, and Entertainment Venues

Non-gaming amenities are integral to the retail product mix, supporting the overall property-level revenue of $1.4 billion in Q3 2025. Management noted stable demand across non-gaming amenities during the quarter.

Specific capital investments enhancing the product offering include:

• M Resort Spa Casino: Second hotel tower opening on December 1, 2025.
• Hollywood Casino Columbus: Hotel tower expected to open in late Q2 2026.

The company also saw higher value per customer from guests staying in renovated rooms at L'Auberge Casino Lake Charles through January of 2025.

PENN Entertainment, Inc. (PENN) - Marketing Mix: Place

Place, or distribution for PENN Entertainment, Inc., is a dual-pronged strategy focusing on a vast physical footprint combined with an expanding, integrated digital presence across North America.

The physical distribution network remains the core anchor of the business. As of late 2025, PENN Entertainment operates a total of 43 properties spanning 20 US states. These land-based destinations house significant gaming capacity, including approximately 50,000 gaming machines and 1,300 table games. Furthermore, the hospitality component supports this with about 8,800 hotel rooms across the portfolio.

This physical network is being actively enhanced through strategic capital deployment. You saw the completion of the new land-based Hollywood Casino Joliet in Illinois, which opened on August 11, 2025. This $185 million project replaced the former riverboat and features over 1,000 slot machines, 43 live-dealer table games, and a retail sportsbook.

Simultaneously, PENN executed a strategic retail expansion in Las Vegas with the opening of a second hotel tower at M Resort Las Vegas in December 2025. This development, part of an estimated $206 million expansion, increased the property's total room count to 765. The project also added the 15,000-square-foot Montese Ballroom in October 2025, bringing the total event space to over 100,000 square feet. The funding for this was supported by $150 million secured in November 2025 at a 7.79% capitalization rate.

The digital distribution strategy recently pivoted, with the company completing the rebrand of its U.S. online sports betting (OSB) platform to theScore Bet on December 1, 2025. This move followed the amicable termination of the ESPN Bet agreement effective December 1, 2025. TheScore Bet is now live across 21 US jurisdictions, including a launch in Missouri in December 2025. The platform is also live in Canada.

The digital reach is segmented between OSB and iGaming. While theScore Bet operates in 21 US jurisdictions for sports betting, the company's iGaming (online casino) offering, branded as Hollywood Casino, is available in five states.

Here's a quick look at the digital and physical scale as of late 2025:

The iGaming component is accessible within theScore Bet app in Michigan, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia, where it also operates as a standalone app. PENN Entertainment operates in 28 jurisdictions throughout North America overall, including its digital and retail assets.

The distribution strategy emphasizes omnichannel integration, using the retail properties to drive digital acquisition. For instance, the three retail properties in Missouri-Hollywood Casino & Hotel St. Louis, River City Casino Hotel, and Argosy Casino Hotel-are opening on-property retail sportsbooks concurrently with theScore Bet launch in the state.

The company's digital expansion is built around its proprietary technology platform, which was developed through the acquisition of Score Media and Gaming.

• Hollywood Casino Joliet land-based opening cost: $185 million.
• M Resort second hotel tower capacity increase: Nearly doubling to 765 rooms/suites.
• M Resort expansion funding: $150 million secured at 7.79% capitalization rate.
• Hollywood Casino Joliet slot count: Over 1,000.
• Hollywood Casino Joliet table games: 43.

Finance: review Q4 2025 property-level revenue contribution from Joliet and M Resort expansion by January 15, 2026.

PENN Entertainment, Inc. (PENN) - Marketing Mix: Promotion

Promotion for PENN Entertainment, Inc. is undergoing a significant pivot as of late 2025, moving away from the high-cost branding strategy toward a more integrated, efficiency-focused approach centered on its owned media assets and loyalty base.

Major Shift from the ESPN BET Branding Alliance to a Digital Refocus

The promotional landscape for PENN Entertainment saw a definitive end to the ESPN BET branding alliance, which was initially set to cost \$150 million per year in cash payments over a ten-year term, plus warrants valued up to \$2 billion at the time of the 2023 announcement. This agreement officially terminated effective December 1, 2025, ending the \$150 million annual licensing fee. The ESPN BET platform struggled to gain traction, reportedly holding only about 2.6% of the online sports betting market in August 2025. The U.S. sports betting offering is being rebranded to theScore Bet, with a target date of December 1, 2025, subject to regulatory approvals.

PENN Play Loyalty Program Drives Cross-Sell

The PENN Play loyalty program remains a core promotional tool, boasting over 33 million members as of Q3 2025. This program is central to driving cross-sell between the retail and digital channels. The company reported a 62% record cross-sell rate for the third quarter of 2025, specifically from online sports betting users into iCasino. Furthermore, the active retail database that also engages online in states with physical casinos (Pennsylvania, Michigan, and West Virginia) reached 14.4% as of September 2025, an increase from 9.0% in December 2024.

The cross-sell success is quantified in the digital performance metrics:

Strategic Partnerships for Experiential Marketing

PENN Entertainment executed a multi-year partnership with the Chicago Bears, positioning its Chicagoland properties as Official Casino Partners and ESPN BET Sportsbook as an Official Sports Betting Partner. This partnership is designed to create omnichannel marketing opportunities, linking physical locations with online products. The launch of the new Hollywood Casino Joliet on August 11, 2025, was synchronized with this promotional push.

• Hollywood Casino Joliet features 1,000 slot machines and 43 live table games.
• The ESPN BET sportsbook is present at the new Joliet location.
• ESPN BET was live in 20 U.S. jurisdictions, including Illinois, ahead of the 2025 football season.

High Promotional Spending in the Interactive Segment

The Interactive segment has seen significant investment aimed at reaching profitability. Analysts projected Q4 2025 Interactive segment revenue to reach \$303.41 million. Management had previously guided that online sports betting and iGaming would achieve EBITDA-positive status by the final quarter of 2025. Promotional discipline has narrowed losses, as seen in Q1 2025 when the adjusted EBITDA loss improved year-over-year by \$107 million, moving from -\$103 million to \$162 million. However, Q3 2025 still showed an adjusted EBITDA loss for the Interactive segment of \$76.6 million on revenues of \$297.7 million.

Integration of theScore Media Content

The digital refocus involves leveraging theScore media content, which has a North American user base of about 4 million monthly active users. In the U.S. specifically, theScore media app has 2.6 million monthly active users, with roughly two-thirds located in legal online sports betting states. Historically, the integration of theScore media app with its betting product has shown strong promotional lift; users with the media app produced 88% higher handle/user and placed 3x the number of bets/user, resulting in a 91% increase in day 30 retention compared to those without the media app.

PENN Entertainment, Inc. (PENN) - Marketing Mix: Price

You're looking at how PENN Entertainment, Inc. monetizes its offerings, which is all about the price customers pay for access to gaming and entertainment. This involves setting the right price points to capture value while remaining competitive across its diverse portfolio. The overall scale of this pricing power is reflected in the company's top line; trailing twelve-month revenue as of September 30, 2025, was $6.82 billion.

For the core brick-and-mortar business, pricing strategy centers on maximizing yield from physical traffic. The retail segment maintains strong Adjusted EBITDAR margins of approximately 33.8% as of Q2 2025. This margin reflects effective management of pricing, comps, and operational costs relative to the revenue generated at the properties.

To give you a clearer picture of how the pricing structure differs between the physical and digital arms, look at these segment results from Q3 2025:

The Interactive segment's pricing approach is heavily focused on yield, especially within its iCasino offerings. Interactive segment revenue was $297.7 million in Q3 2025. A key indicator of successful pricing and product design here is the standalone iCasino apps, which show a hold rate 134 basis points higher than integrated apps, meaning the company retains more revenue per wager on those standalone products. This focus on yield is critical since the segment posted an Adjusted EBITDA loss of $76.6 million in that same quarter.

PENN Entertainment also uses capital allocation as a signal of perceived value to the market, which indirectly affects investor perception of future pricing power and returns. The capital allocation strategy includes a $350 million share repurchase target for the 2025 fiscal year. By the end of the nine months ended September 30, 2025, the company had already repurchased 15,214,631 shares for $269.4 million at an average price of $17.70 per share, showing active execution against that stated goal.

• Shares repurchased in Q3 2025: 7,965,282
• Average price per share for Q3 2025 repurchases: $19.34
• Total liquidity as of September 30, 2025: $1.1 billion